A55 -> A65 upgrader – jpeg vs. RAW

I decided to take advantage of the excellent pricing on the A65 to get one as an upgrade from my A55, which I bought back in 2010. I noticed that nearly every lens I own supports lens corrections on the A65. So I'm considering streamlining my workflow by moving from RAW (Apple Aperture) to jpeg to take advantage of this, and maybe using DRO as well. Can folks tell me their opinions of fine JPEGs on the A65 with the latest firmware? The new camera is shipping now so I haven't been able to do any direct comparisons yet, but I'm looking forward to it

I decided to take advantage of the excellent pricing on the A65 to get one as an upgrade from my A55, which I bought back in 2010. I noticed that nearly every lens I own supports lens corrections on the A65. So I'm considering streamlining my workflow by moving from RAW (Apple Aperture) to jpeg to take advantage of this, and maybe using DRO as well. Can folks tell me their opinions of fine JPEGs on the A65 with the latest firmware? The new camera is shipping now so I haven't been able to do any direct comparisons yet, but I'm looking forward to it

The A65 jpeg engine is pretty good, I have the A37 which is the same generation, in general it's nice. nothing spectacular but usable compare to sony earlier camera. If you want the absolute best, it's probably safer to stick with even newer camera, the Nex 3n IMO has very good jpeg engine.

I've been shooting JPG with my A65 since it first came out. I too have a number of Sony lenses and have been enjoying the built in lens profiles. I have found the JPG's to be very good to excellent.

But I've been wanting to get into RAW processing and just bought DxO Optics Pro 9. It has correction profiles in it for ALL my lenses and cameras and does the same corrections I have been getting with the in-camera JPG's but it applies them to my RAW files. It's great !

The A65 is a wonderful camera. I still get awed by the results from it on almost every shoot. Sony would would have to come out with a bomb of a new A-mount camera for me to move from the A65. I just find it's controls and features help me a lot to make the pictures I want. I am also extremely pleased with my Sony lenses.

Unfortunately, the A65 does not support Micro AF lens adjustments, meaning slight differences in focus from lens to lens can yield soft focus. the A77 has Micro adjustments, which " tune " all of your lenses to your specific camera. With the extra focus points and the 3 axis LCD and the 1/8000 sec shutter, and Micro adjustments, I try to push people to consider it.. The A65 is a great camera and only enhanced by reading Gary Friedman's E book.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to give jpeg at try to start with. I appreciate the idea of the lens corrections in-camera, as well as streamlining the post-processing a bit. And I'm just about to order Gary's book, though I wonder how long it will take me to read the whole thing– I know his books are very comprehensive...

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to give jpeg at try to start with. I appreciate the idea of the lens corrections in-camera, as well as streamlining the post-processing a bit. And I'm just about to order Gary's book, though I wonder how long it will take me to read the whole thing– I know his books are very comprehensive...

here is the trick with Gary's books.

they are well written and vey easy to comprehend. Large text, well spaced and highly illustrated. Don't try reading all of it at once.. You may wind up reading it several times like I did,

here is a tip.

I think its 158 pages. Try reading 30 pages. then read the 30 pages again. with the camera at hand it should not take more than an hour. ON the second pass write down the page or pages that are not crystal clear. Many pages are easy to remember, and some are already knowledge that you already have. Now the second hour you have to spend reading, try reading any pages you noted from those in the first 30 pages. write down any unclear pages again. Not the text just the page number. when you are done you will have X amount of pages that were not clear. I had about 25. I printed those pages on 4 X six index cards. I kept them with the camera until I was confident in ever facet of the cameras operation. it took me about 6 months to master the camera. It has a lot of very cool features and some that are not even identified in the manual. Gary does a great job pointing out tricks, set up, his personal settings and secret features.